A new service has found a way to let users install pirated iPhone and iPad apps without the need for an iOS 6 jailbreak, opening the door for piracy on millions of Apple devices.

While work on an iOS 6 jailbreak continues into the new year, a new service called Zeusmos is gaining popularity thanks to the ability to install apps on the iPhone without buying them in the App Store.

This is bad news for developers and paying customers, who may suffer now that app piracy is easier than jailbreaking the iPhone. Many members of the jailbreak community do not pirate apps, even to “try before you buy” which is what sites like Zeusmos claim to offer.

A new tool allows pirated apps without an iOS 6 jailbreak.

The Next Web provides an in-depth look at Zeusmos and the competing Kuaiyong service, both of which offer means of installing pirated iPhone and iPad apps without the need for an iOS 6 jailbreak. This opens up app piracy to the iPhone 5 for the first time and to a dramatically larger group of users across the entire Apple product lineup.

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It appears that Zeusmos allows users to install cracked apps which have had their DRM removed. To use this service, users must pay a fee, so it is likely that the service is setting users up under a developer account which makes it possible to run apps not purchased from Apple in the App Store.

Zeusmos is offline at the current time, and the creator says he plans to address the issues which made piracy an easy task for many users.

A second service called Kuaiyong offers pirated app installs, but performs all the actions on the iPhone. Kuaiyong breaks iTunes syncing for users that install pirated apps.

The Next Web says developers are spotting thousands of pirated app installs,

Some of the logs are showing thousands of users installing the ‘same’ copy of the app. Not the same app, mind you, but the exact same copy. This indicates that the same exact copy is being distributed with the same set of (encrypted) credentials.

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Apple faced a similar issue that took money out of developer’s pockets in the middle of 2012, when a hack allowed users to make in-app purchases for free, unlocking untold quantities of coins and upgrades without paying developers. The in-app purchase hack is fixed in iOS 6, but the fix was not immediate.

Apple will likely wait for the iOS 6.1 release to fix this problem on a larger scale, but we may see action taken against Zeusmos if it is reselling developer slots to make the hack work.

It would be great if this hack allowed applications from Cydia to run on a non-jailbroken device and allow for developers to make money, but that doesn’t isn’t the case. While some of the apps in Cydia might be able to run in an environment like this, we are not sure if the service would support apps that dramatically theme the iPhone or apps like Auxo which replace the iOS app switcher.

Services like Zeusmos are not likely a replacement for a full jailbreak that allows apps like Auxo to run.

Josh Smith is Editor of GottaBeMobile and Notebooks.com. He's always looking for ways to help you get the most of your gear and loves to talk about tech on radio and TV. Josh uses an iOS and Android devices as well as Mac and Windows Computers. Josh Smith on Google+
Email: [email protected]

9 COMMENTS

I speak here to the geek programmers at Apple.and the companies efforts to stop JB.. and it specially my heroes the c development team… exactly their point…when after J Saukrick who made your phone better…actually worth owning… instead of targeting installous who is hurting your third party developers that you don’t care about….now everybody with the galaxy… the iPhone looks like a toy to me, and the only thing you had going for it was Cydia…you spent all your time in effort going against the people who made your phone better and now companies are pirating this software from your developers without a jailbreak…

Samsung Win.
DID U ever think why Installous, Cydia STOP ?
Here the reason !!!!
Samsung paid DEV installous to close.
then now all iPhone user dont have any jailbreak, NO FREE Apps, NO Free Install.
And all iPhone User will stop use iPhone and will buy a SAMSUNG GALAXY with Android.
!!!!!!!
winner is ANDROID

Umm..Installious and Cydia are still up and running. You can still jailbreak your phone without those two anyways. That is completely different. The only thing Cydia did was give access to hacks to millions of people. It can still be done without it.

I’m sure you make yourself look stupid all the time. Because anyone with a pea for a brain would, at least open a second tab and goto Hackulo.us and see what it said BEFORE they pressed the SUBMIT button. So, since it’s obvious you did not, I’ll post the text version of what everyone finds when they do.

“Goodnight, sweet prince.

We are very sad to announce that Hackulous is shutting down. After many years, our community has become stagnant and our forums are a bit of a ghost town. It has become difficult to keep them online and well-moderated, despite the devotion of our staff. We’re incredibly thankful for the support we’ve had over the years and hope that new, greater communities blossom out of our absence.

Just logged into instalous and used it not sure why people are saying its down. And all talk about jailbreak users not using the jailbreak to get free apps. Utter crap it really is the only reason to do it but everyone just denies it to look moral. Personally could not give a shit about apple and it’s des loosing money.